[Tom McReen]

Terrifying: The moment sex attacker Samson Bello dragged a woman 'like an animal' into a side street. She was rescued when a passer-by heard her screams.


Trail of images: Bello on a 149 night bus after the attack on the 18-year-old near King's Cross


Caught on film: Bello got off the night bus near his home in Hackney, where police tracked him down

By Stephen Wright
Last updated at 10:51 PM on 09th September 2009

Pictured: The terrifying moment when a would-be rapist dragged his victim off the street.

Gripping his intended victim so she has no chance of escape, a would-be rapist forces the woman off the street with terrifying strength.

The 18-year-old had been out with friends when she was seized by the powerfully built man and dragged along 'like an animal'.

She was pulled into a side street and forced to the ground - but thankfully a passer-by heard her cries and came to the rescue.

Her attacker, schizophrenic Samson Bello, 23, committed two other sex attacks on women within hours of this.

The Nigerian-born predator, who came to Britain ten years ago, was sentenced this week at Southwark Crown Court in London. He will be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

He pleaded guilty to four charges - three attempted rapes and one count of kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The harrowing images of the attack, which took place near King's Cross in Central London, were released yesterday as it emerged that detectives tracked Bello to his home using CCTV.

Yard chiefs say the case proves the value of surveillance cameras.

The court heard Bello pounced on his first victim on March 29 and attacked another three - including this woman - two days later.

He lurked in darkened alleys waiting for them to approach.

Bello, who has a history of mental illness, launched his first attack on a 16-year-old girl in Marylebone High Street at 3.30am on March 29.

The victim said she was grabbed by Bello who told her: 'Come with me. If you scream then I’ll hurt you.'

She was pulled into an alleyway and assaulted before a passer-by intervened. Two days later Bello went on the rampage attacking three women in three hours.

A 24-year-old woman was attacked in the Prince of Wales Passage off Hampstead Road at 12.30am.

The Spanish woman fought back and the attack was interrupted by a passer-by.

As they walked past, he grabbed them, dragged them into the shadows, threw them to the ground and did his best to tear off their clothes.

Their screams and the intervention of passers-by forced him to flee on three occasions, while the last victim he attacked put up such a determined fight he gave up.

Apart from severe psychological trauma, all escaped with bruises and abrasions.

Police examined hours of CCTV street and bus footage and eventually tracked the defendant to Hackney, East London, where he lived.

They then 'flooded' the area with officers and days later spotted him yards from his home.

Unemployed Bello pleaded guilty to attempting to rape a 16-year-old girl as well as carbon copy offences against a 24-year- old Spanish tourist and the 18-year-old student in Islington two days later.

He also pleaded guilty to kidnapping another student, 20, 'with intent to commit a serious sexual offence'.

Judge James Wadsworth QC said had it not been for Bello's mental illness he would have been 'looking at a life sentence in all likelihood for these very nasty offences'.

Last month it emerged that only one crime is solved a year for every 1,000 CCTV cameras.

The figure featured in a Scotland Yard report which warns that a network of cameras which can capture an individual as many as 300 times a day is failing to improve public safety.

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